South Africa’s PPC forecasts lower profits
Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) on Tuesday advised that it expects headline earnings per share for the year ending September 2011 to be between 25% and 30% lower than 218.7 cents previously.
The group said it expected earnings per share to be between 25% and 30% lower than 212.9 cents in 2010.
“In line with guidance given at PPC’s interim results during May 2011, cement demand in South Africa improved marginally during the second half of PPC’s financial year. However, cement demand in the Western Cape Province, where PPC enjoys high exposure, continued to lag the rest of the country,” it said.
While a successful price increase during July 2011 would enhance revenues for August and September 2011, the overall pricing environment was expected to remain competitive and this together with ongoing input inflation, continued to present a challenging business environment, it said.
PPC further advised that it would be conducting group discussions with a number of local investors on 21 and 22 September 2011.
PPC said it would release its annual results on November 8.
Published under Cement News
